Hear Me (ON HIATUS)
by Daydreamer0628
Summary: “She looked at me with solemn blue eyes. Blue. Is nothing like the color red. I saw red on his face, and in his eyes. I saw red around the whiteness of the knuckles in his fists. Red. I hate the color red.” Kind of a slowburn, but not TOO slowburn. Eric/OC I do not own Divergent, I only own my story line and my OC’s.
1. chapter 1

I love the color _blue_.

 _Blue_ is the color of my mother's beautiful eyes.

 _Blue_ is the color of the mayonnaise I use for my sandwiches, which my mother makes for me using food dye.

 _Blue_ is the color of my nails, at the moment.

When everything else in my faction is normally black and white, except for the occasional bright red lipstick on some women, it's nice to see the color blue specifically. It stands out.

 _I_ stand out.

Without the color blue.

I hate it. I'm awkward and weird. I fumble and stutter and trip over my own feet. I blush.

A lot.

Being weird makes people laugh though. At the expense of my embarrassment, I can make others happy and smile and laugh.

Being weird makes my mom happy.

Even though she can't walk or run or stand.

Or _dance_.

She used to dance a lot, my mom. She was a beautiful and graceful dancer.

You would think with all the technology they have now, they could fix it. And they could have, if they had gotten to her in time.

I guess you could blame my father for that. I won't call him my dad.

We were sitting on our balcony. I was only ten. My father had just gotten in a serious argument with my mom. She looked at me with solemn blue eyes.

 _Blue_.

Is nothing like the color _red_.

I saw red on his face, and in his eyes. I saw red around the whiteness of the knuckles in his fists. 

He punched her.

 _Red_ gushed from her nose and busted pale lips.

 _Red_.

I hate the color _red_.

While she was leaning against the railing of the balcony, he stomped closer to her. He grabbed her by her white blouse, stained with red, and lifted her up with both hands.

And threw her off the balcony.

She laid there, on the ground, for two days. He wouldn't let her leave, not like she could if she wanted to. Eventually the neighbors saw her, and reported the incident. My father lied, leading him to being exiled and becoming factionless. I was the one who told the truth against him, even though he threatened me.

Mom was still Mom.

She didn't change. She looked at the bright side, now she was away from him. She could still use her arms, thankfully. And we lived happily together, just us two.

 _Just us two_.

But this isn't where I belong.

I don't belong with black and white and complete honesty. My mind is corrupted by the incident with my father. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't change it. I was helpless when mother was nearly killed. I don't want to be helpless or weak.

I want to be _brave_.

Mom knows this. She knows that I was meant for more than here, Candor. She's scared, but I think she trusts my decision. 

"Eileen", she said. "Don't stay because of me. I'll be okay. I want you to do what feels right to you." I know that she is being honest.

She doesn't know my test results. 

The Dauntless lady told me not to tell anyone. I thought it was still a part of the test, so I told her that I was going to tell everyone the truth, because I thought that was what I was supposed to do in the test. Until she convinced me that I was no longer in the test. How embarrassing. I almost got myself killed.

My results were:

Candor, Dauntless, Amity.

But I know I'm not meant for Candor or Amity, and even though Erudite's color is blue, I am not meant for that either. I know for sure what I was meant to be.

 _Brave_.

And as I look into my mother's eyes as we are seated amongst the rest of the Candor at the choosing ceremony, I am reminded, that she loves me no matter what. At that moment, one thought makes my eyes water with the emotional surge and courage I feel.

God,

I _love_ the color _blue._


	2. Chapter 2

A loud roar interrupted the silence as the Dauntless crowd cheered for me, as I was joining them. I cheered along with them.

The ceremony seemed to go by fairly slow after that, a few more initiates joined me, while a couple of Dauntless switched to other factions.

As we were dismissed, I tripped trying to get to my feet and follow the other Dauntless teens. They leapt down the stairs and through the doors, not quite leaving the transfers behind though. I ran as fast as my untrained legs would let me, surprisingly keeping up even though I tripped a couple of times. There was an brunette erudite girl behind me that slung her heels off her feet, wincing when she continued running barefoot.

The climb up to the train tracks didn't take long for some, but there was a Candor boy who got left behind, because he was afraid of heights. His name was Lane. I wonder what will happen to him?

When we reached the top, I took my white blazer off, leaving myself in a white tank top and black leggings, with white flats. I heard the train coming before I saw it. A Dauntless girl bumped me, yelling, "C'mon, Candor!"

I raced along side her. She gripped a doorway and pulled herself inside, and I followed her actors, more clumsily, of course. She pulled me in, and patted my shoulder.

"You made it on the train!" She grinned at me. "The name's Lisa, what's yours?"

The girl had bright purple hair, obviously dyed, and dark brown eyes. She was tall, taller than most other girls, and very lanky but fit.

"I'm Eileen." I replied.

"So you're not gonna change your name like everyone else?" I shook my head. "No, I don't see anything wrong with it."

She beamed at me, "I like your attitude, and your name's is pretty cool. I've never met anyone else with that name."

"Me either."

Time passed, and the next thing I knew, I heard yelling. I ran to the door of the cart and saw that everyone was jumping out of the train and onto the top of a building.

"What?" I questioned outloud, breathless for the shock.

"Don't worry, it'll be a breeze!" A Dauntless boy winked at me and I blushed.

"Uh o-okay." I stuttered.

"Woohoo!" Another Dauntless boy yelled from behind me. Next, I was in the air.

I knew I wasn't gonna make it, I hit the side of the building with an 'Oof!' But my arms latched over the top of the building and I pulled myself up.

I heard crying and looked to my left to see that an Erudite girl had been as lucky as me, and had falling on the ground, limbs at awkward angles. I forced myself to look away and walk toward the crowd of initiates.

There was a black man, also known as Max, the leader of Dauntless. He was more intimidating than I remembered.

"Intitiates! You have passed the easiest test, and now you must enter Dauntless." He stared hard at us.

"How?" An erudite girl asked, looking suspicious. She was the one that threw her high heels off earlier.

Max smiled a little, but it was more threatening than anything.

"You must jump."

Everyone went quiet and started to whisper to one another.

"Who's first? I don't have time to stand here all day, if you are Dauntless then you will jump, if not, then you will become factionless."

I started to walk forward, shaking my arms and awkwardly trying to loosen my nerves.

Max stepped back, seeming amused at my nervousness. I blushed as I stepped up on the ledge.

"You said this is the only way in?" I glanced at him.

"That is what I said." He rose an eyebrow.

"Welp." I bit my lip. "I guess it's as good a day as any." A few initiates behind me started laughing and I felt better knowing that they were beginning to lose their nervousness.

I held my breath as I stepped off the ledge, turning so I was facing upward at Max, who watched me as I fell. I heard a scream, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't me.

The air was suddenly knocked out of my lungs as I hit what I realized was a net. My eyes widened and I breathed in deeply, realizing what the hell I just did.

"Cmon, initiate!" I jumped and scrambled to get off the net. I was yanked off by a strong tattooed arm and placed on a concrete floor.

"What's your name? You can change your name to whatever you want but this is your only chance." The same voice asked me.

I looked up at him, fidgeting with my belt loop on my leggings. "My name is Eileen."

He let go of me and yelled to the side. "First jumper, Eileen!"

I heard a lot of whoops and hollers and my name being yelled. I smiled.

I heard screaming and watched as someone else was pulled off the net.

"Second jumper, Hanna!"

I smiled as I realized it was high heels girl.

It went on like this until the last jumper was called. All initiates had jumped this year, according to another guy I had met, Four.

I was in Dauntless now.


	3. Chapter 3

There were 12 Dauntless born and 10 Transfers. Of the Dauntless born, there were 5 girls and 7 boys, and of the Transfers, there were 4 girls and 6 boys. We all stood before the man who had asked my name before and another man.

"For those of you who don't know me, I am Four. I will be training the Dauntless born initiates." He gestured to the other guy, who I had just noticed had an eyebrow piercing and some wicked tattoos. "This is Eric, he will be training those of you who transferred."

Eric stepped forward, "Dauntless born will follow Four. The rest of you, come with me."

We all followed Eric, I kept to myself as everyone else whispered to each other excitedly. The halls were dark and cold, and I made a mental note to get some warmer clothes when I get the chance. My leggings were black, so I would probably keep them.

We came to a stop over what looked like a large pit.

"This is what many Dauntless would call the center of life here, this is the Pit." Eric spoke, as if not really caring too much. We continued on until we came to a bridge, which was high above a ravine of some sort. The walls were slightly damp from the mist that came off the water below. I looked up at Eric, who was looking back at me.

"This is the Chasm. At least one initiate throws them self over every year, not including other Dauntless who did the same. They chose a cowardly way out."

He spoke with such a harsh tone. I broke eye contact with him and looked down into the chasm. My hands grasped the icy, wet rails as we followed Eric across the bridge.

We walked down a couple more dark hallways until we came to a door.

"This is where you will be staying during initiation." He opened the door and walked in, with everyone piling inside the room behind him.

"Boys or girls?" The high heels girl, Hannah, asked.

"Both, "Eric smirked at us. The girls groaned, while the guys seemed excited to see half naked girls every day.

After he showed us the bathrooms, explained that we would be woken up at 6:00 every morning, and showed us the pile of clothes to choose from, he left.

I grabbed a black tank top, a black long sleeve shirt, a pair of gray socks, and a pair of dark charcoal colored lace up boots that ended just above my ankles.

I walked over to a bed, which was underneath the bed that Lisa, an Amity girl I had met, had chosen and beside Hannah's bed. I threw the clothes down on the bed, claiming it as my own.

Lisa was tall and lanky, but still had a little muscle on her. She had straight, brown hair that was in a short braid. Her skin was sun kissed and her eyes were a dark hazel. Hannah, on the other hand, was only a little taller than me. I was about average height. Hannah's light brown hair was short, a pixie cut. She had very pale skin, and was just a little on the chubby side. That would change soon though.

My long blonde hair was tangled from the days events so far. I carelessly threw it up into a messy ponytail.

I tried to put my long sleeved shirt on as quickly as I could before the others guys could get too many looks in, not that there was much to look at.

I kept my leggings on and dressed my feet in my new socks and boots. I stood up, stretching my legs in an attempt to get accustomed to the heavy boots on my feet. They felt foreign, a little awkward.

I picked up my old clothes and walked out of the dormitory, along with everyone else. We were to meet together to burn our old clothes and meet for a welcoming dinner in the Pit.

I accidentally bumped into a tall guy in front of me.

"Oops! Sorry." I looked up at him sheepishly.

"Oh no, it's fine. My name is Jack, "He held his hand out for me to shake. I switched my clothes to my left arm and shook his hand.

"I'm Eileen."

"Come on, initiates! We don't have all day!" Eric boomed at us, seeing as we were the last ones left to burn our stuff.

I hurriedly threw my clothes, not wanting to anger the Dauntless leader any more than I already have.

We walked in a tight group to the Pit, and upon entering the smell of food hit my nostrils. Instantly, my mouth began salivating. I hadn't eaten anything all day.

We headed toward the line and I piled my plate with two hamburgers and fries. I grabbed two bottles of water and headed to the table where most transfers were seated.

Jack, who sat diagonal from me, gawked at my plate. "You sure you can eat all that?" He joked.

I stuttered. "Uh-Is it against the rules or something?" He laughed. "No, you can eat as much as you want, you just look kinda small to be eating so much."

I shrugged and started chowing down. I was finished way before everyone else, so I sat there, listening to conversation and observing everyone's food choices. Jack got two hamburgers like me, but instead of fries he had tatie tots. Lisa had a bowl of nachos, and so did Hannah.

I yawned as everyone was suddenly told to quiet down by Max.

I looked up at him as he began to speak.

"This year, we have a new generation of Dauntless in training!" Everyone cheered. "These young adults, at only the age of 16, have chosen Dauntless as their faction of loyalty. They will be tested to the best of their ability; physically, emotionally, and mentally. It is our job to show them how to be Dauntless. It is our job to show them that we believe in freedom from fear, in ordinary acts of bravery, and in defending those who cannot defend themselves!"

Everyone cheered and waved there fists in the air excitedly.

After the ceremony, we walked back to the dormitory to rest before our first day of training, which I heard is the toughest.

We also found out that not all of us would make it into Dauntless. Out of 22 initiates in total, only 15 would make it through, seeing as we would be ranked together with the Dauntless born initiates.

I could hardly sleep that night. Not because I didn't want to. Not because I was worried, but because of the cries I heard around me. The realization sank in that some of us wouldn't make it, and for a couple of people, it was obvious who had the best chance of becoming factionless.

Eventually, after about an hour and a half, the criers has cried themselves to sleep, finally enabling me to find sleep as well.

My dreams that night were anything but pleasant.


	4. Chapter 4

"I better see you all in the Pit in five minutes!" A loud banging of what sounded like pots and pans interrupted my sleep.

Others around me groaned at the wake up call. I stretched and looked at the doorway with squinted, crusty eyes. Of course, I was greeted with a blurry Eric. My bed just so happened to be the closest to the door.

My face turned hot when a hand waved over my face.

"Are you awake or asleep?" A feminine voice asked from above.

"Uhh-sleep? I mean awake-ugh", I groaned while Lisa giggled.

"How can you be happy this early?" I squinted up at her, rubbing at my right eye.

She shrugged, hopped down from her bunk, and proceeded to get dressed in front of me.

Hannah, to my left, was still trying to wake up, like most others.

I stumbled to the bathroom area and turned on a faucet. I shuddered as cold water splashed over my face, effectively removing some of my gross eye crust, which I'm sure was dried tears, and waking me up. I grabbed a small towel and dried my face and small parts of my hair that got wet.

I slept in my leggings and black tank top so I wouldn't have to bother changing the next morning in front of the guys.

"Aw, you're not going to put on a show for us this morning? The other girls did." A guy, Josh, winked at me. He was about average height, average build with oddly broad shoulders, and a face that rivaled that of an elf. A perverted one.

I just shrugged, ignoring him, and walked back to my bunk to put on my boots, grabbing another pair of socks that were left in the dorm by Eric. They were a little big, so the ankle socks became high topped socks on me.

"Wanna walk to breakfast with us?" Hannah asked, gesturing to Lisa and Jack behind her.

"Sure." I stood up and followed them to the Pit.

Not much was said on the way to get breakfast. I yawned about 3,472 times though.

Once we got in line for breakfast, I snagged a large chocolate muffin and a cup of hot coffee.

We sat down at an empty table. There weren't very many people in the Pit yet, so there were very many empty tables for the taking. It was only about 6:10 by the time we sat down. Eric _did_ tell us to be in the Pit in 5 minutes, so we weren't late like a few other initiates were. All of the Dauntless born were here before us, and we're seated at the two tables closest to the food line.

I took a bite of my muffin and sipped cautiously at my coffee.

"Gross!" Hannah screeched at me. "Who drinks _black_ coffee?"

I point a thumb at myself, "Me?" I replied with sass.

"Ugh that is so just- _ugh_ ", She shuddered as I took another sip, and then another bite of my muffin.

"So what do you guys think we'll be doing today?" Jack questioned.

I looked at his plate thoughtfully. "We'll be in the training room, so probably some sort of fighting stuff, I overheard Four talking to Eric about it yesterday."

"You mean arguing?" Hannah butted in. "That's all I've seen them do when they're together!"

"You know what that's called?" I asked, with a grin on my face. They all shook their heads. "It's this thing called 'who's penis is bigger'"

They all choked up with laughter, and a Dauntless man behind me guffawed after hearing what I said. "I like her!" He exclaimed to the rest of his buddies sitting at the table behind me.

I blushed profusely, but with a smile on my face nonetheless.

By 6:30 the Pit had become more lively, with people buzzing around getting ready for the day. We were to be in the training room at 6:45, so it was time for us to go.

The only people in the training room were Eric and Four, and you guessed it, they were arguing.

"We're trying to train them, not purposely injure them, Eric."

"Well, you know what, _Four_? I'm a _leader_ , I make the _rules_ , and the new rules are that _no one_ concedes."

Eric and Four stared each other down for about 10 seconds. Four's jaw muscles flexed as he gritted his teeth and stormed off to handle his own initiates.

Eric finally noticed us and gestured for us to take a seat. We did, not wanting to anger him any further.

"See", I whispered to my three friends. "Who's penis is bigger?" I joked. They laughed quietly.

"I'm willing to bet that Four's is bigger." Lisa suddenly announced and we all looked at her with jaws slack and eyes wide.

I accidentally laughed too loud and Eric noticed. Our smiles disappeared as he approached, though I was practically trying to force mine to go away and stay away while Eric was near.

"What's so funny?", Eric questioned, standing in front of us.

"Um, nothing. Just talking about something that happened at breakfast." I stuttered, intimidated by him.

He glared at us for a few long moments before his face loosened up. "Oh, okay." His voice sounded like it was anything _but_ okay to him.

Like a silent threat, maybe?

By the time 6:45 rolled around, everyone was present and waiting to hear what we would be doing today.

"Alright, initiates." Eric walked onto a padded platform in front of us. "Today, we'll be practicing fighting techniques. Tomorrow, you will paired up to fight each other." He put his hands behind his back and began pacing. "After lunch we will meet here again for weaponry practice and will head to the rooftops to continue practicing."

He stopped in the middle on the platform and stared at us sternly, his eyes meeting mine longer than I would have liked. "Physical body training will be from seven in the morning to 12, where you will have an hour lunch break. Training with weapons will follow, from one in the afternoon to six. After that, you will have free time. You will be given points every day for your hard work in training. Points are used to buy things that you want or need, like clothes. Your curfew is ten o'clock at night. If you are found out of the dorm after curfew, you will be punished. Are there any questions?"

No one spoke up, and he nodded. "Alright. Twenty pushups." A Candor girl groaned.

"Thirty!" He bellowed. "I don't wanna hear any more complaints!"

That's when I knew, it was going to be a long day.


	5. Chapter 5

That evening after training, we were all worn out. Lisa, Hannah, and I all walked back to the dorm to shower. We were all stinky and sweaty.

I stripped of all my clothes, only just a little self conscious to be naked around my newfound friends.

"Those scars look gnarly, Eileen!" Lisa exclaimed, looking at my thigh and side. One long thin scar stretched down from the top of my thigh to just two inches above my knee, the other was kinda of splotchy and puckered against my rib cage. The stark contrast between my skin color and the white pinkish scars always left me sort of disturbed. "How'd you get them?"

"I don't know, actually." I grimaced as I felt a headache spreading outward from my right temple.

"Oh." She replied, turning around to shampoo her hair.

Within 10 minutes we were clean and dressed and ready for dinner. It didn't take long to get to the Pit. We practically followed the smell of food there.

Today I grabbed a few slices of pizza, some baby carrots with ranch, and a carton of apple juice. I sat down between Lisa and Hannah.

"That looks like a meal my mom would've given me as a kid." Hannah snorted. I gave her a smile that expressed that I found no humor in her comment.

"I've never had pizza." Lisa cut in, stealing a slice from me. I rose an eyebrow while Hannah openly gawked at her. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, Amity was all about organic and nutritious food." She rolled her eyes. She took a bite of the slice and then placed it back on my plate with a grimace. "You can keep your damn pizza. Way too greasy."

Hannah, dramatic as usual, got into an argument with Lisa over how good pizza is.

I zoned them out, munching on my food. My stomach rumbled, not satisfied with how slow I was trying to eat. I gave in and pretty much inhaled my food.

"Don't look now." Hannah muttered. "It's Mr. 'I have the biggest penis'." I could tell this inside joke was going to last a while.

"He's actually not too bad on the eyes." Lisa cut her hazel eyes at him slyly. Hannah nodded, agreeing. She twirled a lock of brown hair around her index finger and studied him with half lidded eyes.

I fake gagged. "He's a total jerk."

Hannah lightly elbowed me. "You can't tell me you would turn him down."

I scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure I would."

Although, I was lying a little. He was physically attractive, I'll admit. I would still turn him down, though. He was still a total jerk, no matter how attractive he was.

I turned in for bed early that night while everyone else took advantage of the late curfew to hang out in the Pit.

Once again, sleep did not come pleasantly.

"Get up!" Eric's voice interrupted my sleep for the second time. I restrained a groan and got up quickly. I was feeling more refreshed than the morning before.

Breakfast went by fast with all the nervousness everyone was feeling about fighting today. I kept to myself today, not really in the mood to keep up with Hannah's drama and Lisa's unnecessary comments.

Once we all arrived in the training room, Eric pointed toward a board. It read:

Toni vs Alex

Jack vs Martin

Lisa vs Hannah

Ryan vs Theo

Josh vs Eileen

Toni was a Candor girl who was built like a man. She had midlength black hair, dark brown, almost black iris's, lightly tanned skin, and was as tall as most of the guys. I felt bad for Alex, who was a scrawny Erudite boy who obviously needed his glasses that he had lost on the train.

I don't think he'll make it here.

The fights went by agonizingly slow for everyone, and a couple were fairly brutal.

The winners' names were underlined on the board. So far, the board read:

Toni vs Alex

Jack vs Martin

Lisa vs Hannah

Ryan vs Theo

Josh vs Eileen

"My bet is on Josh winning. I'm sorry, I'm your friend, but we all know how this is gonna play out." Hannah muttered.

I gave her a look. "You sure you didn't get Candor on the test?" She laughed.

"Alright," I said. "If I win, you owe me a huge favor, I can use that anytime I want."

She grinned. "And if I win, then you owe _me_ a favor, no matter what."

"Deal?" I asked.

"Deal." She confirmed, her signature Cheshire Cat grin on her lips.

I stood up and shook my hands out, nervous as I was called up to the platform along with Josh.

"Cmon, sweet cheeks. Give me a kiss and I'll go easy on you." He puckered his lips mockingly.

"I think I'd rather be hanging in the chasm than be kissed by anyone in this room, much less _you_." I retorted, getting into a fighting stance. I was about 5'2", while josh was about 6'. He was almost a foot taller than me.

My remark got a bunch of 'oooh's from around the room. My face remained expressionless while his held a look of slight irritation.

"Stop playing around and fight already." Eric nearly yelled at us. Josh gladly took his shot at me.

I ducked as fast as I could, not wanting to get punched in the face. I didn't have time to think before his other fist caught me in the gut. I nearly fell backwards on my butt from the blow but kept my stance.

He came in for another punch, leaving his face wide open. I took the opportunity to punch him. I felt my ring finger knuckle and middle knuckle on my right hand bust open beneath the blow. I felt my chest swell in pride as I heard and felt a crack against my fist. I broke his nose.

"God damn." He grimaced, looking at me shocked.

I was also looking back at him, surprised. Guess I was stronger than I gave myself credit for.

His face twisted from shock to anger, lines creasing between his eyebrows and where his nose scrunched up. He face was red. His dark, curly hair a mess.

He charged at me, head down, and body slammed me onto the padding.

It felt like my lungs and the air outside were playing a game of tug of war. After a few dizzying seconds, I was finally able to suck in some air.

A fist came down on my face, hard. I couldn't resist the yelp that escaped my mouth.

I mind began to melt into blind panic, not being able to handle the frustration of being pinned down.

A croaky scream tore through my throat, and I head butted Josh's head as hard as I could.

Black danced around my vision as I came to. I felt a heavy weight on my chest and looked down to see a very unconscious Josh.

"Oh shit." I slurred.

Jack and Toni pulled Josh over to the side. I was greeted with Eric's blurred face.

"Can you hear me?" He asked, still stern as always.

I tried my best to nod. "Did I win?" I asked.

Eric breathed in deeply. "Yes."

I grinned and pointed in the direction that I thought Hannah was. "You owe me a favor!" I yelled, then grimaced as it hurt my head.

Everyone left except Eric and Toni, who helped carry Josh and I to the infirmary.

"That was stupid." Eric finally said, and I looked up at his face, my own squished against his shoulder.

"What else was I supposed to do?" I asked, annoyed.

"Not that." His reply was short. I decided not to say anything else, so I wouldn't aggravate him any more than he already was from having to carry me.

By the time Eric set me down on a cot, I was fighting sleep as hard as I could, knowing if I had a concussion then I shouldn't be asleep.

The nurse gave me some sort of injection, assuring me that it was okay to sleep now, so I did.

 **A/N: Sooo I know the chapters are short right now, but they're getting longer as I go! Thank you for the reviews so far! Feel free to give advice, as I am fairly new to writing. I think I'm getting the hang of it.**

 **Right now the updates are pretty random, but after I get to a steady pace I'll be able to give a set time of the week to expect updates.**


	6. Chapter 6

I awoke with a jolt. My body felt clammy and cold. Looking around, I noticed that I was still in the infirmary.

"You're well enough to leave now, your concussion should be well enough by now to continue training." I looked up to see a short chubby woman with fair skin, covered in freckles, and red hair. Her green eyes held no emotion as she looked at me passively. She had multiple tattoos and was wearing a black nurse uniform. She was very pretty, actually.

"What time is it?" I asked. She glanced down at her watch lazily. "Almost 6."

Well there goes the rest of my training today.

"Okay. Thank you." I gave a half hearted smile and walked out of the infirmary, taking a deep breath and smoothing my hair down.

After about 5 minutes of walking, I found the Pit. I stood there searching for my friends in the crowded area.

I nearly fell on my face when someone bumped into my shoulder. I looked up to see Josh walking away, throwing a threatening glare over his shoulder as he walked away. His face was swollen with a black eye, a bruised nose, a busted lip, and a big gross bruise on his forehead. I'm sure that I didn't look any better. I know, I didn't _feel_ any better than what he looked like.

My heart stuttered in fear for a moment, knowing I'd probably end up being a target for him and his group.

Eh.

I finally spotted Lisa, who was rolling her eyes at Hannah, who was making it as obvious as she could how much she loved pizza.

I sat down, surprising them. Hannah jumped at my sudden appearance and dropped her gooey slice of pizza face down on the table.

"Oh, gross." Lisa commented.

"The pizza or her face?" Jack snorted. A deadpan look graced my features.

"Oh, shut up." I stole an apple off his plate. "As if you look any better on a _good_ day."

He feigned being offended with a hand over his chest and an exasperated look on his face. "Eileen, dear! How dare you!"

We all laughed at him. Well, I snorted more than laughed, and nearly choked on the piece of apple in my mouth.

I sat there with my friends, eating off their plates. I knew they weren't going to finish all their food anyways. We laughed and joked for about half an hour before Lisa seemed to jolt, obvious remembering something. The other two caught on quickly, leaving me clueless and curious.

I gave the Amity transfer a questioning look.

"So, I just think you should know, you've got like 2 people staring you down right now." Lisa leaned over and whispered.

My eyebrows furrowed deeper in confusion as I leaned closer. "Who?"

Lisa glanced across the table at Jack, who was sitting to my right. As subtle as he could, he gave a quick nod to his left and kinda behind him. I turned around to see Josh giving me probably the worse stare he could muster.

"Eleven o'clock." Hannah whispered in my ear.

I looked around clueless. Eleven o'clock? I felt stupid when Hannah grabbed my head and directed me where to look.

She meant eleven o'clock, as in the direction. Ohh.

I gulped when I realized that _Eric_ was one of those two people staring at me. A table away was Four, who was glancing between me and Eric, as if trying to figure out what was going on. Heh, I wish I knew.

I quickly looked back down at my plate, blushing from the attention. A minute or two passed with an uncomfortable air around us.

"He's coming over here." Lisa whispered hastily and excitedly, obviously hoping she could get a closer look at Eric.

"Ookayyy." I drug out and stood up with my tray. "Just gonna leave now." I commented awkwardly and walked away to dump my tray and leave the dining hall.

I had only been out of the Pit and in the dark hallway for about 5 seconds before a voice stopped me.

"Initiate." I winced and turned around, thankful that the darkness of the hall could hide most of my blush of embarrassment.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Max and I agreed that you should be taught to use _other_ techniques besides head butting. Since you missed out on training today, you'll be spending the next 2 hours making up for it."

"What about Josh?" I asked, hoping that Josh would be with us. Even _that_ would be better than being with Eric _alone_.

His nostrils flared for some unknown reason. "He's already done his part."

"Why not with us?" The question flew out before I could stop it.

"Because I said so, _initiate_. Do you want me to train you or not?" I could feel his eyes burning into the top of my skull as I looked down at my feet.

"Yes." I answered, quietly.

"Dauntless stand tall. Pick your head up and act like it." He commented harshly.

I tried my best to do as he said.

The next couple of hours were full of rough workouts. Luckily, the ruthless Dauntless leader wasn't being _too_ cruel about it.

I did 45 push-ups before my arms finally gave out. I fell face first to the ground, breathing hard. My arms flexed as I tried to do one more, sweat dripping down my neck, onto the floor.

I unintentionally grunted as I managed to push myself up one more time, my arms shaking uncontrollably.

I fell again and almost started crying with frustration. My arms tried once more to lift me up.

A warm calloused hand landed on my back and I fell forward again. The floor was becoming slick with sweat.

"Five more push-ups, and you can leave." Eric spoke, putting weight against my back. The skin beneath his hand tingled awkwardly at the sensation of a stranger touching me, a man at that. Obviously, he was sent here by some force in the universe to make my life a living hell.

I licked my chapped lips. My hands fought to steady themselves against the wet padding.

"Fuck." I spit out as I did two more wobbly pushups. My vision was swimming from the intense workout. My mother would have a heart attack if she saw the state I was in right now.

"Can't do it, can you? Pathetic." He taunted, though the tone in his voice made it sound like he really didn't think I could do those last three push-ups.

"Fuck you." I gritted out. "I'll make it to sixty if I want to." I said to him, anger and frustration fueling me.

With every push-up I did, the weight on my back got heavier.

"Sixty." Eric finally said. I fell to the cold ground and laid there, because it felt good on my face, arms, and the bare part of my chest.

My face was slippery with sweat against the plastic padding underneath me.

"Get up." Eric begrudgingly helped me up off the ground. "Be proud. You did more pushups than most initiates can do."

I nodded slowly, still trying to catch my breath and cool my body down.

"But", he started. "Don't ever talk to me like that again."

I nodded again. "I'll try not to let it happen again. You pissed me off though." I added the last sentence quietly.

The corners of his lips twitched up in a smile, though it only lasted a second before it was gone. "I'm sure it won't be the last time either, get used to it."

He started to walk out of the training room before he stopped. Not looking at me, he said. "Oh, and if you bring another muffin into the training room, be sure you have one for me, too, initiate." Then he was gone.

I blushed horribly, remembering the extra muffin that I brought to the training room that morning. I thought I was sneaky and had it finished before the young Dauntless leader walked into the training room. I should've known better.

Oops.

Maybe I'll bring him a muffin in the morning. Who knows?

Once I made it to the dorms, everyone else was already asleep, meaning I could shower without the perverted eyes of the other guys.

Except Jack. Jack is pretty cool.

After I rinsed off, I took the time to stand under the steaming hot water and think.

I wondered how my mother was doing. I knew she had Ava, a sweet Amity woman who transferred to Candor. Ava took care of mom and kept her company as well. She was like the aunt I never had. I missed Mom and Ava.

I quickly turned the shower off before my thinking got too deep. I tend to get headaches when I do.

My mother and some doctors at Candor said my mind suppressed a lot of memories from when I was younger, simply because of how traumatic my younger years were. That is why I get headaches when I begin to think too much about the past. The farther back I try to remember, the worse it gets. Sometimes I wonder what could've been so bad that my brain refuses to remember. I remember what happened to mom, so is it something worse than that?

I sighed as I stepped up to a sink in the bathroom to brush my teeth with one of the disposable toothbrushes that already had toothpaste in the bristles.

When I looked up into the mirror, I noticed how my grey eyes looked unusually bluer.

 _Blue_.

I rinsed my mouth out with water and dried my mouth on the towel wrapped around my head. I pulled the towel off and threw it down with the other used towel in a bin in the corner.

My feet padded softly as I walked to my bed, trying not to wake anyone.

"You okay, Lee?" Hannah whispered. I was a little startled by the sudden, never used nickname for me.

"Oh-um, yeah. I'm fine. I just had to catch up on some training." I responded.

"Oh. Today, after you went to the infirmary, Eric said something about actually shooting the guns on the roof tomorrow. In case you didn't know."

I gave a small smile. "Thanks for the heads up, no one told me about that."

"You're welcome." She rolled over on her bed, her back toward me.

I laid down with a quiet, content, yet tired, sigh. My muscles ached, in a good way, and I was thankful for my new friends.

I had to keep an eye out on my new enemies though.

 **A/N: As promised, the chapters are getting longer. Let me know if it feels too rushed or anything, it's hard to pick up on my own mistakes. Reviews and advice are very much appreciated! Thank you!**


End file.
